Brooklyn turned three on Thursday (I know, I know, this is a little late but it was a busy week!). On the day of her birthday I took her to an abandoned parking lot by our house to play in puddles and try to get her to cooperate for pictures (it’s getting harder and harder!). I can’t believe it’s already been three years since she came into our lives and given us so much joy. Happy Birthday to my (always) little girl!
You are smart, curious and hungry to learn.

You are cuddly and loveable.

You love animals and bugs… yes, even cockroaches (ew!)

You love to make us laugh.

You have to make everything perfect, and are not satisfied unless it is.

As the year comes to an end I found myself looking over all of our pictures and videos from over the year and I ran across these I had taken of Grace when she fell asleep. I can’t believe how fast time has gone and I just love her peaceful, sweet face and couldn’t resist posting!

Taylor and her friends wanted to do a best friends shoot. We had so much fun… but I will post the fun ones later. I just loved the color of this chair so I wanted to post these first (am I allowed to use a smiley face or is that too unprofessional?- oh well, it’s my blog )

I am not even going to say anything about this post because it is obvious how beautiful Gina is and she looks ah-mazing pregnant. Ok, so I just said something. Now, I will let her beauty speak for itself…

So, yesterday we celebrated our five year anniversary. I know, doesn’t seem like much when you think of those who have been married for forty or fifty years but, like my mom would say, I just want to give a “shout out” to Corey for tolerating me for five whole years. Gotta say, the first year was really rough. Who am I kidding? The first week was really tough. There have been some tough times and definitely times when we both felt like giving up, but there is something beautiful in knowing there is someone who is willing to stick around you even when they have seen you at your worst. So, to celebrate our five years I would like to just list the top five reasons I love Corey.

1) First and foremost, I love how much Corey loves the Lord. That was the first thing that drew me to him. From the time he got saved he would sit and read- no, study- his bible for hours. He opened my eyes and gave me a new perspective on things I had heard my whole life and, sadly, had come to take for granted. I will never forget him telling me, after he had just read an old testament story: “yo, God is gangsta!” Only Corey could re-tell a Bible story and make it seem like something off of the Godfather.

2)He is a great dad. There is nothing better than seeing him be gentle and loving with Emily, or watching him rock Grace to sleep. But, I’ve got to say my favorite is watching him play with Brooklyn. He will play anything she wants…yes, he’ll even pretend to be a puppy, or a monkey, or (my personal favorite) a baby. He will do just about anything for his girls and I love to see how much they love him.

3)I love his family. They are so much fun to be around, easy to talk to, caring and generous, and they even get in on some Corey-bashing time. What else could I ask for?

4) He loves and cares for people. Not just his family, but people in general. I tend to be a little dettached and cold-hearted so sometimes it drives me a little crazy, but I can’t tell you how many times Corey calls me to tell me how sad or broken-hearted he is about one of his co-workers family members being sick, or how he prays for people he doesn’t even know because he is touched by the problems they are going through.

5)Corey makes me laugh. That’s it. Pure and simple. There’s not much better than someone who can take you out of a bad mood or just make the every day something to laugh at.

Well, you may be bored and probably haven’t even finished reading this, but I’m kinda glad I wrote it. Makes me realize I actually kinda like Corey and I may just keep him around a little longer…

Cheryl and Alonso’s wedding was beautiful, simple, and, well, perfect. The weather was great, the ranch was gorgeous, and the two families were so much fun. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to be there!

So, this is my sweet Grace on one of our walks in the stroller. We had her baby cousin in the back of the double stroller and I could not get her to sit face-forward because she wanted to see the baby so bad! I had to post because I love her goofy little face!